IEN Registration in Alberta to become more difficult

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Mar 28, 2013

They should probably regulate the number of IEN who are trying to register here in Canada but not shutting down the whole program.

The elimination of the Mount Royal assessment program is not "shutting down" immigration for nurses. It's a financial decision based on the cost of the program and the value it provides to the Alberta population. It's one province, not the whole country. At present, Alberta has no need for IENs in the workforce, so how would it make good business sense to continue to operate a program that essentially has no current value? Could it be reinstated in the future? Absolutely. The framework will still be useful and it wouldn't take much to get it up and running again when the need for IEN augmentation again appears.

No one is criticising anyone else for wanting a better life. The choices made in that pursuit must be made on accurate, current information and be as informed as possible, otherwise the sunshine and lollipops won't be there. When decisions are made based on best-case scenarios and there's no room for less, people find themselves in a new country with few prospects. I believe that a review of posts on this topic of IEN registration/employment will show that Canadian nurses have been sending out warnings about the bubble bursting for about 2 years already. Yes, there aren't enough nurses in Canada, but governments aren't willing to pay for more. End of story.

lilaclover6984 · Mar 28, 2013

Some of these IENs just seem to feel so entitled to work as nurses in Canada. And a lot of them even seem to view nursing as a passport to Canada.

Just doesn't seem fair to me. Nursing (BSN) is a very competitive program to gain acceptance to in Canada and then once accepted is very expensive and many Canadians rack up huge student loan debt paying for schooling. Meanwhile we have these IENs coming to Canada and are able to easily bridge in as long as they are willing to pay the fees. But we don't even offer a decent bridging option here for our own LPNs?

There are so many Canadians who would love to be a nurse. Why not make it more accessible to them and employ our own people rather than import?

lilaclover6984 · Mar 28, 2013

In my opinion they should just keep the program shut down even after this hiring freeze is over. If we need nurses why not expand the programs offered here for Canadians and start offering more seats?

Fiona59 · Mar 28, 2013

Some of these IENs just seem to feel so entitled to work as nurses in Canada. And a lot of them even seem to view nursing as a passport to Canada.
Just doesn't seem fair to me. Nursing (BSN) is a very competitive program to gain acceptance to in Canada and then once accepted is very expensive and many Canadians rack up huge student loan debt paying for schooling. Meanwhile we have these IENs coming to Canada and are able to easily bridge in as long as they are willing to pay the fees. But we don't even offer a decent bridging option here for our own LPNs?
There are so many Canadians who would love to be a nurse. Why not make it more accessible to them and employ our own people rather than import?

Lila, were you on the boards back in 07/08?

That was when IENs began to focus on Canada as a source of employment. Their sense of entitlement was huge. They were coming to Canada because "they were the best nurses in the world" (several posters actually had this in their avatar area), that Canada should be grateful to have them and that they would show us how to nurse.

We all said that it wasn't the way to go. If Alberta had spent the same amount of money as they spent on settlement grants for the mass hire, they could easily have put through several classes of LPNs to do the old diploma bridge that was still an option up until 2009. It was never considered because that would have removed too many LPNs from the floor.

The officials on that hiring junket didn't do thorough enough research into the education of IENs in a couple of nations which resulted in the CARNA refusing them permission to write CRNE. Which basically caused the SEC to come into effect. There were only supposed to be a batch or two of IENs being permitted to work as LPNs to save Capital Health's (pre AHS days) reputation. Now we see the threads clogged with "which is faster RN or RPN applications". This was never meant to happen. It wasn't even discussed pre-2008.

jam_bv15 · Mar 28, 2013

I am a Filipino IEN, too. I would say that speaking Tagalog is something I am most comfortable with but I do agree that nurses should be respectful of other people. It is quite embarassing to know that when asked to speak in English, they would even respond that you should learn to speak Tagalog. Maybe they meant it as a joke, but still. Maybe not every Filipino IENs would agree with me, but Canada welcomed us, immigrants. We should be respectful of the people in the country and one the ways we could do so is being professional and speak English especially in the workplace.

Fiona59 · Mar 28, 2013

When our family was posted to NATO bases in Europe, we tried our best to learn enough of the local languages to be polite.

I admit to not having the skills to have a conversation but I can survive in French, German, and a smattering of Dutch. It was considered polite to use it in the shops and when dealing with renting housing, buying cars, etc.

I thin if you have migrated to a country and are planning on spending the rest of your life there, you have to learn to speak the language. I have memories of being a child in the '60s and our next door neighbours being an Italian family. The wife spoke very, very little English (back then there were no immigrant centres, etc), she associated only with the other Italian women in the area. When her children started school, she couldn't read the report cards or speak to the teachers. I ran into her about 10 years ago. She had been here since 1957 and her English was still fractured. Her husband is fluent (heavily accented) in English because he worked in places that said English is spoken here.

It is considered to be extremely rude and impolite to speak another language in the workplace between coworkers and over patients. I know I'll never work in Quebec because my French isn't good enough and the language police out there would never permit me to chatter away in English in all Francophone unit.

jam_bv15 · Mar 28, 2013

It is considered to be extremely rude and impolite to speak another language in the workplace between coworkers and over patients.

Agree. To other IENs, let's try our best not to be 'those nurses' that others would not like to work along with because of the endless ranting and language issues. It says a lot about our work ethics. It is always best to have a harmonious work relationship with the team.

Silverdragon102, BSN · Mar 29, 2013

OK guys, we appear to have gone off topic to the title of the thread. The discussion is IEN to be more difficult due to SEC no longer being funded. If you want to discuss other issues in regards IEN then please post them in another thread ideally not in the Canadian forum

itsmejuli · Mar 29, 2013

My daughter in law is doing SEC at the end of April. I think now she finally believes me when I tell her there are no jobs.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Mar 29, 2013

Global news just released an article today re: 12 nurse layoffs at Stollery in Edmonton, as Jan mentioned.

More layoffs to come I'm sure. Not a good time for nurses period.

Pediatric Critical Care Columnist · Mar 29, 2013

My daughter in law is doing SEC at the end of April. I think now she finally believes me when I tell her there are no jobs.

In view of Mount Royal's program closing, is she still having her assessment?

nosh pade · Mar 29, 2013

Mount Royal University is conducting the SEC assessment until June 30, 2013. Mine was scheduled in October.

What would be your opinion if I would try to register as an LPN for the meantime while the demands for nurses are decreasing? Will it be a good idea?